Dragged deeper than ever into the clerical sex abuse scandal, the Vatican is launching a legal defense that it hopes will shield the pope from a lawsuit in Kentucky seeking to have him answer attorneys' questions under oath.
Court documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press show that Vatican lawyers plan to argue that the pope has immunity as head of state, that American bishops who oversaw abusive priests weren't employees of the Vatican, and that a 1962 document is not the "smoking gun" that provides proof of a cover-up.
Read more here.
Showing posts with label vatican. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vatican. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sinead O'Conner seems to be vindicated
Op-ed piece by Sinead O'Conner:
When I was a child, Ireland was a Catholic theocracy. If a bishop came walking down the street, people would move to make a path for him. If a bishop attended a national sporting event, the team would kneel to kiss his ring. If someone made a mistake, instead of saying, "Nobody's perfect," we said, "Ah sure, it could happen to a bishop."
The expression was more accurate than we knew. This month, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a pastoral letter of apology -- of sorts -- to Ireland to atone for decades of sexual abuse of minors by priests whom those children were supposed to trust. To many people in my homeland, the pope's letter is an insult not only to our intelligence, but to our faith and to our country. To understand why, one must realize that we Irish endured a brutal brand of Catholicism that revolved around the humiliation of children.
Read more here.
When I was a child, Ireland was a Catholic theocracy. If a bishop came walking down the street, people would move to make a path for him. If a bishop attended a national sporting event, the team would kneel to kiss his ring. If someone made a mistake, instead of saying, "Nobody's perfect," we said, "Ah sure, it could happen to a bishop."
The expression was more accurate than we knew. This month, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a pastoral letter of apology -- of sorts -- to Ireland to atone for decades of sexual abuse of minors by priests whom those children were supposed to trust. To many people in my homeland, the pope's letter is an insult not only to our intelligence, but to our faith and to our country. To understand why, one must realize that we Irish endured a brutal brand of Catholicism that revolved around the humiliation of children.
Read more here.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Vatican upset one fairy tale more popular than another
The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film "Avatar" simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.
L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron's big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.
L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."
"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.
Read more here.
L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron's big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.
L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."
"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.
Read more here.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Vatican eyes the Staffordshire Hoard
It has been described as the “stuff of dreams”. It brought one archaeologist to tears at the very sight of it.
But the awe-inspiring Staffordshire Hoard, one of the most important discoveries of Anglo-Saxon treasure in British history, may be whisked away by the Vatican...
...the Christian significance of some of the relics, including a folded cross and a bracelet with a Biblical inscription, that led to a significant phone call to Midland archaeologists from the Vatican...
...the Vatican think[s] it may be the lost treasure of St Edwin
So gimme gimme gimme. I'd tell them to STFU.
Read more here.
But the awe-inspiring Staffordshire Hoard, one of the most important discoveries of Anglo-Saxon treasure in British history, may be whisked away by the Vatican...
...the Christian significance of some of the relics, including a folded cross and a bracelet with a Biblical inscription, that led to a significant phone call to Midland archaeologists from the Vatican...
...the Vatican think[s] it may be the lost treasure of St Edwin
So gimme gimme gimme. I'd tell them to STFU.
Read more here.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Vatican: We're kinda sorry...oh look, gay people!
I mean, other religions are worse than us, and it's the gays fault anyway, duh...
In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.
…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.
"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."
Read more here.
In a defiant and provocative statement, issued following a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva, the Holy See said the majority of Catholic clergy who committed such acts were not paedophiles but homosexuals attracted to sex with adolescent males.
…The statement said that rather than paedophilia, it would "be more correct" to speak of ephebophilia, a homosexual attraction to adolescent males.
"Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17."
Read more here.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Vatican to women: stop worrying about equality and go put on another load
The Parade of Stupid continues today:
As International Women’s Day is celebrated, the Vatican had a novel message for the women of the world: give thanks for the washing machine. This humble domestic appliance had done more for the women’s liberation movement than the contraceptive pill or working outside the home, said the the official Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano.
Read more here.
As International Women’s Day is celebrated, the Vatican had a novel message for the women of the world: give thanks for the washing machine. This humble domestic appliance had done more for the women’s liberation movement than the contraceptive pill or working outside the home, said the the official Vatican newspaper, Osservatore Romano.
Read more here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
